Trouble at Di’s Palace?

Notice the difference? So did the City, and officials weren’t happy about it, according to Matier & Ross:

Sen. Dianne Feinstein and her mega-millionaire husband, Dick Blum, have a bit of fence mending to do with their soon-to-be neighbors in San Francisco’s Gold Coast.

It seems that workers remodeling the Pacific Heights mansion that the couple just bought leveled all the green in the adjoining public garden — without the city’s approval.

And not just any green — we’re talking about a Tivoli-style garden just off the front entrance of the couple’s $16.5 million abode, which sits at the foot of Vallejo Street, between the Presidio and some of the city’s most posh residences.

The garden is actually part of the city-owned Lyon Street steps — a favorite of joggers, walkers and tourists looking for a picture-postcard view, and even for teenagers looking to sneak a late-night drink or two. “

Senator Feinstein blamed the incident on her overzealous landscapers. “I went ballistic,” she said. “I didn’t want to take it out… I could have used it. Now I have to do a whole new sprinkler system.”

Matier & Ross say that Feinstein should be given some slack since there’s ambiguity about who, exactly, is in charge of what is done to the garden in front of her home. Although the land is public, it’s supposed to be maintained by its neighbors.

The couple were actually working up plans to give the area a total makeover — including putting up a gate and fence around the Lyon Street entrance.

“Some security is obviously important, and yet we want to do it in a way that it doesn’t take away” from the public space, Feinstein said.

“We will pay the city to do the work,” she said. “I regret (the garden) was taken out before we were ready to go in with the new stuff.

“It’s going to be beautiful,” she promised, “if people can just have a little patience.”

And just for the record, Public Works deputy Mohammed Nuru later phoned us to say his folks had since inspected the property and spoken to the landscape architect.

“What is required in this situation is just a review of the plan,” he said, “and we are OK with the plan.””